Advancing reel



Dec. 1, 1953 J. N. BIRMINGHAM ADVANCING REEL Filed March 10, 1951 INVENTOR. JOHN N. BIRMINGHAM //Z0%/M4 ATTORNEYS.

Patented Dec; 1, 1953 rear reins:

2",660,80&

ADVANCING- EEEL 2. Claims.. 1

This invention relates to advancing reels and relates more particularly to improved advancing reels adapted for supporting a yarn While thesame is subjected to treatment with a plurality of different media.

An important object of this invention is to pro-- vide improved advancing reels for supporting yarn while the same is subjected to treatment with a plurality of different mediawhich will enablea close control to be maintained on the shrinkage of the yarn during each stage-of treatment.

Other objects of this invention, together with certain details of construction and combinations of parts, will be apparent from the following detailed; description and claims;

in the production of artificial yarns, such as viscose yarns, it is necessary to subject said yarnsto treatment with a plurality of adherent media. During these treatments, the yarns exhibit a tend ncy to shrink, the extent of shrinkage depending upon the nature of the treatingmedium being applied thereto and the-stage of treatment of the yarns. The amount of shrinkage of the yarns which actually takes place during each stage of the treatment must be controlled: closely to obtain yarns having the most desirable. and uniform physical properties.

According to the present invention, there is provided advancing reel which will enable such a close control to be maintained on the-shrinkage of the yarns during the treatment thereof, and which will also enable the total time of treatment to be varied over a v range. The advancing reel comprises a plurality of rollers arranged around the periphery of a circle and with their axes parallel to one another, and at least one roller whose axis is skewed with respect to said parallel rollers. At the iced end" of the advancing reel, th axis of the skewed rolleris positioned. on the periphery of the circle passing through the axes of the parallel rollers, and all of said rollers are provided with driving means which serve to rotate said, rollers at the same: peripheral speed. At the discharge end of the advancing reel, the axis of the skewed roller is positioned internally of the circle passing through the axes of the parallel rollers. in addition, means are provided for adjusting thepositicnofthe end of the skewed roller adjacent the discharge end of the advancing reel along a line generally parallel to the circumference oi the circle passing through the axes of the parallel rollers to permit the skew of said skewed roller to be varied. A yarn trained around all or the rollers will, when said rollers are caused to rotate, move along said rollers in the form of charge end of the advancing reel.

a helix from the feed end of the, advancing reel to the discharge. end of the advancing reel, withthe pitch of said, helix being determined by the position of'the skewed roller. As the yarn moves along the advancing reel, it may be subjected to treatment with a plurality of fluid media and, before being removed from the advancing reel, the yarn may be dried by causing a gaseous medium such as heated airto flow radially outwardly through the turns of yarn. To allow a controlled shrinkage of the yarn to take place onthe advancing reel, the diameter of the rollers adjacent the feed end of the advancing reel is made larger than the diameter of the rollers adjacent the dis- For example, the rollers may betapered along all or a portion of their length. The taper may be uniform along its entire length or it may vary, depending upon the precise amount of shrinkage desired in theduri-ng stage of its treatment. Alternatively, the rollers may be divided into a plurality of sections having difierent diameters, the diameter of each section being constant or varying in any desired manner.

A; preferred embodiment of the advancing reel is shown in the accompanying drawing wherein.

Fig. l is a side elevational View of the advancing reel,

Fig. 2 is an elevational View of one end of the advancing reel, and

Fig. 3- is an elevational view of the other end of the advancing reel.

Referring now to the drawing, the reference numerals: H and i2 designate frame members between which are'posit-ioned a plurality of rollers 33 arranged around the periphery of a circle. The axes of the rollersiii are parallel to one another and said rollers are provided with stub shafts i and 15 that are rotatably j'ournalled in the frame members: i l and i2, respectively. Also positioned between the frame members I and i2 aroller to, whose is skewed with respect to the rollers I 3. The. roller it is fastened" by means of universal joints l? and i8 to stub shafts l9 and 2t that are rotatably journalled in the frame members i l and i2, respectively. The axis of the stub shaft is at the feed end of the advancing reel is positionedon the periphery of the circle passing through the axes of the stub shafts E4. The stub shaft [9 and the stub shafts id have fastened thereto pinions 22 which mesh with a gear 23, driven by means of a motor 24, to efiect the rotation of the roller is and the rollers Ill. The axis of the stub shaft 2! at the discharge end of the advancing reel projects through a slot 25 positioned internally of the periphery of the circle passing through the axes of the stub shafts l5 and extending generally parallel to the circumference of said circle. The stub shaft 2! is secured adjustably at any desired point in said slot by means of lock nuts 2%, thereby enabling the degree of skew of the axis of the roller 16 with respect to the axes of the rollers 13 to be varied over a considerable range. Extending through the frame member i2 and into a position centrally of the rollers is and the roller 16 is a conduit 21- which is provided with a plurality of apertures 23 extending through the wall thereof. At its end, the conduit 2? is closed by means of a plate 29 which extends across the conduit 2? and outward the circumference thereof to form a deflecting flange 3i Yarn 32 to be treated is trained around the rollers l3 the roller l6 and, when the said rollers are caused to rotate by the motor 24, will be moved by the skew of the roller [5 in the form of a helix from the feed end of the advancreel to the discharge end of the advancing reel. By adjusting the skew of the roller 16, the pitch of the helix of yarn 32 may be changed thereby changing the speed with which the said yarn moves longitudinally of the advancing reel. As the yarn moves over the rollers l3 and the roller it, it may be subjected to treatment with a plurality of fluid media which are applied thereto by any suitable means (not shown). Then, before being removed from the advancing reel, the yarn 32 may be dried by means of a stream of heated air which is caused to flow from the conduit 23 outwardly through the apertures 23 and the turns of the helix of yarn, the defleeting flange acting to prevent an undesired how of the gaseous medium across yarn 32 before it is ready to be dried. To provide for a controlled shrinkage of yarn 32 during its treatment on the advancing reel, the rollers 23 and the roller l 6 are divided into three sections a, b and c, the sections an adjacent the feed end of the advancing reel having the largest diameter, the intermediate sections I) having a smaller diameter than the sections a, and the sections 0 adjacent the discharge end of the advancing reel having the smallest diameter. The change in the diameter of the rollers l3 and the roller it permits a definite amount of shrinkage to take place in yarn during its treatment on the advancing reel, thereby enabling the physical properties of said yarn to be controlled closely.

It is to he understood that the foregoing detailed description is merely given way of iilustration and that many variations may be made therein without departing from the spirit of my invention. Y

Having described my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

i. In an advancing reel for treating yarn, a

nary frame members, a plurality of rollers arranged around the periphery of a cirle and with their axes parallel to one another g reel in the form of a helix from the feed end of the advancing reel to the discharge end of the advancing reel, the axis of the skewed roller adjacent the feed end of the advancing reel being positioned on the circle passing through the axes of the parallel rollers and the axis of the skewed roller adjacent the discharge end of the advancing reel being positioned internally of the circle passing through the axes of the parallel rollers, pinions operatively connected to all the rollers adjacent the feed end of the advancing reel, a driving gear meshed with all said pinions for rotating said rollers, and a conduit having holes in the walls thereof extending through the frame member adjacent the discharge end of the advancing reel into a position centrally of the rollers directing a gaseous medium to how radially on wardly through the turns of yarn, said conduit having a flange extending radially outwardly therefrom for deflecting the gaseous medium away from the turns of yarn adjacent the feed end of the advancing reel.

2. In an advancing reel for treating yarn, a pair of stationary frame members, a plurality of rollers arranged about the periphery of a cir cle and with their axes parallel to one another rotatably journalled in said frame members, at least one roller whose axis is skewed with respect to the axes of said parallel rollers rotatably journalled between said frame members to cause the yarn to move along the advancing reel in the form of a helix from the feed end of the advancin reel to the discharge end of the advancing reel, the axis of the skewed roller adjacent the feed end of the advancing reel being positioned on the circle passing through the axes of the parallel rollers and the axis of the skewed roller adjacent the discharge end of the advancing reel being positioned internally or" the circle passing through the axes of the parallel rollers, universal joints operatively connected to the ends of said skew roller for supporting said skew roller during the rotation thereof, pinions operatively connected to all the rollers adjacent the feed end of the advancing reel, a driving gear meshed with all said pinions for rotating said rollers, and a conduit having holes in the walls thereof extending through the frame member adjacent the discharge end of the advancing reel into a position centrally of the rollers for directing a gaseous medium to flow radially outwardly through the turns of yarn, said conduit having a flange extending radially outwardly therefrom for deflecting the gaseous medium away from the turns of yarn adjacent the feed end of the advancing reel, said rollers having a larger diameter adjacent the feed end of the advancing reel than adjacent the discharge end of the advancing reel whereby the yarn may shrink by a controlled amount as it travels along the advancing reel.

JOHN N. BIRMINGHAM.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,070,252 Borner Feb. 9, 1937 2,365,096 Mothwurf Dec. 12, 1944 2,495,936 Kuljian Jan. 31, 1950 2,574,833 Kuljian Nov. 13, 1951 

